June 27th

DALLAS – JUNE 27, 2016 – Epsilon®, a global leader in creating connections between people and brands, today released the Q1 2016 North America Email Trends and Benchmarks report. The report shows that personalized, triggered emails continue to outperform business as usual (BAU) emails, reporting open rates 67.9% higher and click rates 241.3% higher than BAU email messages.

“It’s no secret that personalization in the inbox works. For email marketers looking to move the needle on their programs, the combination of creative and insights will make a significant impact,” shared Judy Loschen, Senior Vice President, Strategic Consulting at Epsilon. “This includes leveraging new technology and fewer restrictions by Internet Service Providers to unleash creative potential in the inbox, while using data to better understand consumer behavior and deliver the most personalized and contextually relevant experiences. The combination of art and science for email marketing efforts will drive business outcomes.”

Business as usual methodology and email trends

The quarterly BAU analysis was compiled from 8.5 billion emails sent in North America by approximately 150 Epsilon clients in Q1 (Jan – Mar) 2016 across multiple industries.

Key findings from the Q1 2016 report include:

The Q1 2016 open rate of 33.3% was above Q4 2015 (30.6%) and higher than Q1 2015 (32.0%)

In Q1 2016, the Retail General industry drove the highest open rates across the twelve industries analyzed in the report with a 50.7% open rate. This industry also saw strong click rates averaging 4.4% for the same quarter.

Triggered message methodology and email trends

Triggered message benchmarks were analyzed from approximately 3.7 billion emails sent by Epsilon clients in Q1 2016 across multiple industries. Results track campaigns deployed as a result of a consumer action such as welcome, abandon shopping cart, thank you or confirmation.

Key findings from Q1 2016 triggered message research include:

Triggered messages accounted for 4.2% of total email volume in Q1 2016, directly in line with Q1 2015 volume

Triggered open rates were 67.9% higher than BAU in Q1 2016, higher than the Q1 2015 lift of 65.0% over BAU

The Consumer Products – Pharmaceutical industry did the best job of engaging subscribers through triggered emails in Q1 2016, with open rates 212.5% higher and click rates 498.5% higher than BAU messages.

Epsilon is a global leader in creating connections between people and brands. An all-encompassing global marketing company, we harness the power of rich data, groundbreaking technologies, engaging creative and transformative ideas to get the results our clients require. Recognized by Ad Age as the #1 World’s Largest CRM/Direct Marketing Network, #1 Largest U.S. Agency from All Disciplines and #1 Largest U.S. Mobile Marketing Agency, Epsilon employs over 7,000 associates in 70 offices worldwide. Epsilon is an Alliance Data company. For more information, visit epsilon.com, follow us on Twitter @EpsilonMktg or call 800 309 0505.